I have an iBook G3 @ 800 mhz, 386 ram, and a 30 GB hard-drive running 10.2.8. I currently don't have a wireless card or a base station. I was wondering if there was any cheaper alternatives to Apple's airport. I see the airport express is $130 and the card is $80. First off, is this all I'll need to surf the net wirelessly? Are there any other brands out there? I appreciate any help anyone could give me.

You're pretty much stuck getting an AirPort Wireless Card for your iBook, but something like a Linksys Wireless Router will work great with it. As long as you don't need a modem on it, the Linksys router is your best bet. They're very easy to maintain, and make changes to the configuration.

The last USB wireless adapter I had (D-Link USB Wireless Adapter) was absolute CRAP! The software for it was terrible. It crashed OS X almost everyday. I ended up selling it on eBay less than a week after I got it.

I would stick with the AirPort Card and hardware wireless router. Hardware is almost always better than software based solutions IMO....

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